A trio of nominees to replace inspectors general fired by President Donald Trump were pressed by Senate Democrats on Thursday about their propensity to act independently of the White House.
Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., the ranking member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, started the hearing by asking the three nominees whether Trump violated the law when he fired 17 IGs at the beginning of his second term without providing advance notice or “substantive rationale” to Congress.
The trio, who would replace fired watchdogs at the departments of Defense and Labor as well as the Small Business Administration, generally declined to answer Peters’ question, saying the matter is currently being litigated.
Peters told the nominees, “It’s clear that you folks don’t understand the role of an IG and that basically disqualifies you.”
A federal judge in September ruled that it was “obvious” the president broke federal law with respect to the removals, but she rejected a request by some of them to be reinstated after determining they could not show they suffered irreparable harm. Panel Democrats, in particular, criticized Labor IG nom Anthony D’Esposito, a former U.S. representative from New York. Last year, the New York Times reported that he may have violated House ethics rules by apparently hiring his fiancee’s daughter as well as a woman with whom he was alleged to have had an affair.
D’Esposito answered a question from Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., about whether he would be a political candidate in the next election by saying, “As of today, my focus is to be confirmed as inspector general of the U.S. Labor Department. Having discussions about the future are questions that I can’t answer.”
Blumenthal also pointed out that D’Esposito’s campaign website is still up, but the nominee said that he doesn’t use it.
“The campaign website that is still active is not being updated. It’s not being used. There is no fundraising being done,” D’Esposito said. “There’s not an active campaign.”
On Oct. 9, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee advanced D’Esposito’s nomination in a party-line 12-11 vote. Still, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said during that markup that she has concerns about his political history influencing his ability to be impartial in the position.
“I’m going to be looking to make sure that he executes his new responsibilities with the unbiased nature that he has committed to me,” Murkowski said.
The panel on Thursday also considered the nominations of Platte Moring to be DOD IG and William Kirk to lead the SBA IG office.
The Senate Armed Services Committee advanced Moring’s nomination on Oct. 9. Staff for the panel didn’t immediately respond to a question about how senators voted on the nominee.
Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., the ranking member of SASC, said during that committee’s confirmation hearing for Moring that his nomination was a “very wise choice.” Moring is a retired lieutenant colonel and served as deputy general counsel at DOD during Trump’s first term.
On Thursday, Moring promised to notify Congress if he believes an IG investigation is being improperly interfered with.
The DOD IG is currently evaluating Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at the request of Reed and SASC Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., over his use of Signal to inadvertently share information about military operations in Yemen with a journalist.
Kirk’s nomination was advanced by the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee on Oct. 8 in a 10-9 vote. According to his LinkedIn, he is the acting chief of staff in the Education Department’s general counsel office and has held multiple positions in the EPA OIG.
While the three IG nominees have already been approved by a Senate committee, HSGAC still held a hearing with them because the panel shares jurisdiction for almost all IGs. A committee aide told Government Executive that, while HSGAC can hold a separate vote on them, the nominees are automatically sent to the floor 20 days after being favorably reported by their primary committee.
Trump’s nominee to lead the Office of Special Counsel, Paul Ingrassia, was scheduled to be a part of Thursday’s hearing, but the White House on Tuesday pulled his nomination after Senate Republicans expressed concerns about reports that he has been accused of sexual harassment and sent racist text messages.
The president last week fired another IG — Parisa Salehi at the Export-Import Bank — without notifying Congress. While he did not provide a justification, an Office of Management and Budget spokesperson has previously said in a statement to Government Executive that IGs “have become corrupt, partisan and in some cases, have lied to the public.”
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